Best striped end pages! What makes you happy? Could you list a hundred things? And do some rhyming?

Step Right Up: How Doc and Jim Key Taught the World about Kindness written by Donna Janell Bowman and illustrated by Daniel Minter

I had never heard of this amazing horse and his companion. Such a story!

Welcome by Barroux

Barroux manages to say so much by saying so little. In this book, three lost polar bears search for a new home. How are these newcomers received? A timely story in our world.

Duck, Death and the Tulip by Wolf Erlbruch

A duck and Death spend some time at the pond. Unusual. Touching. Philosophical.

Adrift at Sea: A Vietnamese Boy’s Story of Survival by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch with Tuan Ho Art by Brian Deines

A picture book that depicts a true story of the escape from Vietnam in 1981. Full of dangers, emotions and leaving home. I bought it for our class collection.

Ballet Cat: What’s Your Favorite Favorite? by Bob Shea

This is not my favorite favorite of the Ballet Cat titles but still amusing enough to be enjoyable.

Hilo #3: The Great Big Boom by Judd Wick

Quite possibly I enjoyed this one more than Hilo book 2. This is a fantastic graphic series! So entertaining that I always read them first before bringing them into my classroom library – because then, I will never see these titles again!

Newsprints by Ru Xu

Gorgeous illustrations. I found some of the story line confusing but think this graphic title will have many fans.

Finding Perfect by Elly Swartz

An emotional MG read about one young girl’s OCD that begins to spin out of control. Highly recommended.

It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas

Just fantastic! This book explores the Iranian Hostage Crisis, dealing with middle school while still figuring out America and all of the complexities of family and friendship a 12 year old girl from Iran might experience. And it’s super funny and touching and so wonderfully written! A must have for classroom libraries.

Reading Progress updates:

2017 Chapter Book Challenge: 10/75 complete

Goodreads Challenge: 52/365 books read

Progress on challenge: 3 books ahead of schedule!

#MustReadin2017: 6/30 complete

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: 10/50 titles

Diverse Books in 2016: 7/50 books read

Up next? I am reading Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones

I have been sharing a reading photo of the week each week. This week I had to share a very special reading moment. This is one of many reading duos that happens during afternoon reading where a more confident reader spontaneously reads aloud to a growing reader who joins in when he or she can. It it a pretty delightful thing to watch.

Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast written by Josh Funk and illustrated by Brendan Kearney

I was so thrilled to share this title as a read aloud and am even more excited to invite my last year’s students to a recess read aloud later this week (we pre-loved this book back in June). So much silly, so much funny, rhymes that work and a trail of suspense as we move through a refrigerator adventure. We laughed a lot during this book but there was also lots of absolutely “captured” little faces waiting to discover what would happen next! JoshFunk managed to achieve an ideal balance between the silly and the adventure. I actually read this aloud to an adult after school on Thursday who was equally captivated. It’s that good that you immediately want to rush out and find a listener!

Some highlights of our read aloud experience:

Early on when Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast announced that they were going to race for the last drop of syrup, one little boy started to quietly chant, “Share it! Share it!” At the end, he shook his head. “See, they should have shared.”

On page four, one child leaned into another and announced: “I like this book already.”

During the bean avalanche, one little boy started shaking his head, “Oh oh. The beans are waking up and getting cranky.”

When BVW did his thing (avoiding a spoiler alert for those of you who haven’t read it), many children began a conversation that ended with general consensus that BVW should be eaten!

There was pure despair when the butter was going to be shared. “No, don’t let the butter die!”

During playtime, about 30 minutes after we finished the book, one little boy came up to me and said very seriously, “I’m voting for the waffle.”

This was our #classroombookaday book of the week with many many votes and a little note scrawled on the chalkboard that I discovered at the end of the day “+ 500 more”

In a Cloud of Dust by Alma Fullerton and illustrated by Brian Deines

An important book that depicts how access to education is so very complicated. With a bicycle, a long arduous walk transforms into a manageable ride.

This is one sweet book. So lovely that I will soon be featuring it on the blog with student reactions (also very sweet). I am completely smitten with Elwood.

Water Can Be . . . by Laura Purdie Salas and illustrated by Violeta Dabija

I adore all of these titles by Salas and Dabija but am perhaps most excited to share this one with my class when we begin our theme on water in a few weeks. Such an amazing book to allow students to think more broadly and creatively about something so much a part of their lives.

It is totally cliche to talk of being completely lost in a book about being lost in the mountains. But, this book pulled me in and I had a really difficult time putting it down. LoriLansens is one of my all time favourite writers so I couldn’t miss this title when I heard it was released. An incredible survival story that leads us nowhere safe through memories, dreams and visions. Wolf Truly sets off on his eighteenth birthday to jump to his death from a ridge overlooking Palm Springs. Up on the mountain he meets three women, three generations of one family who become stranded with Wolf. This is a story you won’t soon forget.

Updates on my 2015 Reading Goals:

2015 Chapter Book Challenge: 54/80 complete

Goodreads Challenge: 332/415 books read

#MustReadin2015: 16/24 complete

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge: 60/100 titles

Diverse Books in 2015: 39/50 books read

Up next? I am reading a number of titles including Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty ( a rare adult read)